


Ink on Your Skin

by viiperfang



Series: HLVRAI Memory Wipe AU [2]
Category: Half-Life VR but the AI are Self Aware
Genre: Fluff, Gordon has ADHD because I said so, M/M, Tattoos, They/Themrey, alchohol mention, also bc im projecting but thats besides the point, brief and i mean brief literally one sentence, im not sure what else to tag this with?, no beta we die like men, the original characters are the tattoo artist and then some chick getting a tattoo, young teenagers/tweens are the fucking worst im not sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25944853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viiperfang/pseuds/viiperfang
Summary: "Hey, Benny…"Benrey looked up from where they were drawing in the dirt with a stick, tilting their head a little as they met Gordon's eye. Gordon gave them a gaptoothed smile, eyes scrunched up. "Uh, yeah?""You ever think about getting a tattoo?" Gordon asked, grin growing slightly bigger. "I saw this woman with so many cool tattoos, and it got me thinking."When Gordon brings up the idea of getting matching tattoos the first time, Benrey laughs. The second time, though? It's a different story.
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Tommy Coolatta/Darnold
Series: HLVRAI Memory Wipe AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1882975
Comments: 19
Kudos: 121





	Ink on Your Skin

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh, slight spoilers for the AU in this, but there is another story in the works that comes before this one.  
> Yes, Gordon has the Black Mesa Sweet Voice now. :3
> 
> I wrote this in one sitting, and managed to not make it angsty, which is a feat in and of itself for me.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! Please do comment if you do, I love reading them.

"Hey, Benny…"

Benrey looked up from where they were drawing in the dirt with a stick, tilting their head a little as they met Gordon's eye. Gordon gave them a gaptoothed smile, eyes scrunched up. "Uh, yeah?"

"You ever think about getting a tattoo?" Gordon asked, grin growing slightly bigger. "I saw this woman with so many cool tattoos, and it got me thinking."

Benrey thought about it, tongue poking out from between their teeth, before humming, "mmm nah."

Gordon gave them a kick to their thigh with a huff. "Come on, dude. Why not?" The twelve-year-old snatched the stick from Benrey's hand and began to draw something in the dirt just out of Benrey's view and continued to talk. "Don't you want something to show we'll be BFFs forever?"

"Doesn't BFF stand for-"

"Shut the hell up, dude, you know what I mean."

Benrey cackled, the thirteen-year-old alien seeing the smile poking through Gordon's annoyed face. "I'm telling your mom you fuckin' cursed, bro."

"Shut up, asshole. You didn't answer my question."

"What was your, uh, your question again? Something about bein' gay, Gaydon Feetman?"

Gordon kicked them again, slightly harder, with a laugh. "I'll kill you, don't call me that," he scoffed through his laughter, shifting to show Benrey what he was drawing. "Wouldn't something like this be cool?"

A pair of crude drawing of what Benrey _thinks_ are arms, complete with shoddy hands, is scrawled into the dirt. Matching PS2 controllers were on the wrists, with 'B+G Co-Op' underneath. Instead of thinking about the warmth that spread up their cheeks, they mumbled, "looks a bit shit."

"C'mon, like _you're_ any better."

"Mmm, I'm totally better than you at drawing," Benrey grinned, gesturing to their, honestly no better, drawing they had been working on. "See?"

"You aren't! What even is that?"

"It's obviously a d-" before they could finish, Gordon tackled them, sending them both sprawling onto the ground. "Oh thats, uh, that's how it's gonna be? Lameman, gonna get your ass kicked," Benrey snorted, shoving Gordon's face into the mud and climbing on top of him.

"As if! You _wish_ you could kick my ass," Gordon crowed back, amusement dancing in his voice. He managed to throw Benrey off and fixed his glasses, only for the other to throw a handful of sticks and leaves at him. "Oh you're fucking dead."

\--

"Hey… Benrey."

Benrey opened one eye to look down at Gordon who's head was pillowed on their chest. They made a questioning hum to show they heard him, and Gordon shifted to look at them, a smile on his face. "Do… you wouldn't happen to remember when we were, I dunno, like twelve? And I had asked about the matching tattoos."

Benrey _did_ remember, as a matter of fact. That was when they had first been aware of their, at the time, tiny crush on Gordon, which had only grown throughout the years. And look at them now, literally cuddling in bed, happy lovers, the best time of Benrey's life. Of course, they couldn't simply say this, so instead they smirked. "Maybe. Maybe not. 'S a long time ago, bro, who even remembers that shit. Why?"

Gordon rolled his eyes and huffed, but the smile never left. "I was thinking-"

"That's always, uh, dangerous. Don't hurt yourself."

"Shut up!" Gordon laughed, hitting Benrey's chest lightly with his flesh hand. "I was thinking about it. Would you wanna do it?"

"Isn't that kinda gay? Gaydon-"

Gordon sat up and started getting off the bed. "Nope, I'm leaving. Fuck you, you ruined it," he groaned, albeit not without a hint of amusement in his eyes and an accompanying twirl of yellow Sweet Voice.

"Nooooo, Freemaaaaan," Benrey whined, making grabby hands at him. "Don't leave, I'm sorry."

Gordon arched an eyebrow and stared down at Benrey. "Are you really?"

Benrey nodded and gave him a grin. "Yessir."

"Ugh, you're the worst, you know that?" Gordon groaned, but he laid back down in his previous spot anyway. His eyes closed as hands began to run through his hair, and he made a small, content noise in the back of his throat. "Think about it?"

"Yeah, I would. Uh, want to do it, I mean. The, the tattoos. Yeah," Benrey nodded, pink Sweet Voice escaping their lips. They quickly waved it away before Gordon saw it, not that it mattered but it was a principle anyway.

Gordon perked up and stared at Benrey with shining eyes. "Really? You're not fucking with me?"

"No, I think it's a great idea," Benrey wholeheartedly agreed.

"Holy shit, I wasn't sure you'd wanna do it. I'm so excited, Benrey, what are we gonna get? We-we gotta think about designs and location and, and, are we gonna do words or just matching images? Are they gonna be wholes or, like, halves of a whole that complete the entire thing when put together. Where are we going to go? When-" Gordon was practically bouncing in place, hands waving in the air as he talked animatedly. He really _was_ excited about this, huh? He nuzzled his face into Benrey's chest, still talking.

When he paused to take a breath, Benrey spoke. "It's like, shit, uh, 3 am or something, we can discuss this in the morning?" They didn't want to interrupt Gordon's good mode or happy rambling, but they _also_ knew Gordon would be awful in the morning if he didn't get some sleep soon. 

"I'm too excited to sleep, Benrey. Oof-" Gordon squeaked as Benrey wrapped their arms around him and rolled over, smushing him against their chest. "Okay, okay, one last thing."

"Hmm?"

"Do you, like, uh, do you think Tommy would make us a design if we asked? Like, I'll pay him, that's like, what people _do_ right? Commissions 'n shit."

"Oh hell yeah. Tommy would totally be, uh, down to do that. Now sleep, please? No, uh, no Grumpyman in the morning? Gordon Sleepyman? Don't, no, uh, no Grumpo Angryman?"

"What?" Gordon laughed, and shoved Benrey's shoulder lightly before wriggling to get comfortable. "I don't think like, half of that made sense?"

"It made sense, your brain is just, uh, just too tired to understand. Thought you had a PHD, hmm? You lying about that? You got smooth brain? Gotta sleep to un-smoothify your brain, bro."

"Okay, _okay_ , I get it. Sleepytime for Gordon, I get it. Geez. Shut up." Gordon shook his head, before he pressed a kiss against Benrey's lips. "Goodnight, Benrey."

"'Night, Tiredman."

"Oh my god, _stop_!"

\--

They had talked to Tommy about it, who agreed to create them a design, free of charge.

("Are, are you sure? Tommy, I'll pay, it's no problem! I don't want to take up your time."

"M-Gordon, it-its fine. Don't worry about it! I like doing this-this stuff, and you're my friend!"

"But, are you _sure_?"

"Gordon, I _will_ kick your ass if you don't take your money back!"

"Okay, okay!")

He also, of his own accord and kindness, but also with the thought of wanting the design to be a surprise until finished, found a good tattoo parlor and set up an appointment. Without telling them. Until the night before. Through a text.

Of course Gordon was a little nervous. He wasn't freaking out, just… worried! What if they were late? What if they went to the wrong place? What if the tattoo got messed up? How bad would it hurt? Would he cry?

"Broo, you're gonna break the steering wheel," Benrey's voice broke through his thoughts. Gordon blinked, then forced his grip to relax. "You trust Tommy, right?"

"Yeah, with my life-When do I turn?"

"Uh, next light. Make a left." Benrey instructed, before they held their hand out expectantly. Gordon glanced at it, then at Benrey, then back at the hand, before it clicked and he turned back to the road. He slipped his right hand off the steering wheel and took Benrey's hand in his own, not quite feeling it but the gesture calming in its own right. "Calm down. Everything's been taken care of, Gordo."

"Right, yeah. You're right. Right." He flicked the turn signal and turned left, half-listening to Benrey's instructions of how far down the road it would be. "I'm fine," he announced when he moreso _felt_ Benrey's eyes on him then saw them. Ignored the contradictory Sweet Voice that blew out of his mouth like steam— _steel blue that comes out in a hurry means he's worried,_ a voice in his brain that sounded suspiciously like Tommy supplied. "I'm fine," he repeated, quieter but with more conviction. "I'm just a little nervous, is all."

"This is your first tattoo, right? 'Course you're gonna be worried."

Gordon simply nodded, turning into the parking for the place, and then checking, double checking, and triple checking to make sure they were at the right location. He wasn't stalling! He was getting out of the car right now! Except, he continued to sit in his seat, hand nervously tap-tap-tapping on the steering wheel, left leg bouncing hard enough to shake the entire car. Benrey let out a small cloud of majorelle blue to smoke gray, _you're okay_ , and yeah. Gordon was okay! He had survived Black Mesa. He had punched an eldritch being who was Tommy's dad in the nose. He had gotten his arm cut off. Compared to that? A tattoo was nothing.

He squeezed Benrey's hand before he threw open his door and climbed out. "Come on, we're gonna be late, dude."

Benrey just raised their eyebrows at the complete 180 of Gordon's emotions, but knew better than to comment on it. "Yeah, I'm coming, bro, don't get your panties in a twist."

Despite Gordon's newfound courage, he still clung to Benrey's hand like a lifeline as they entered the parlor. There was one other patron there, who was getting her ass tattooed, to which Gordon averted his eyes with a blush when she saw their interlocked fingers and gave them a wave. He pulled Benrey up to the desk where a woman with a purple mohawk and a metric fuckton of tattoos sat.

"I, uh, we had an appointment? M-my friend, Tommy Coolatta, made it?" He stammered, hoping his voice didn't shake as much as he thought it was.

The woman's eyes lit up and her lips peeled back in a grin. "Oh, him! He was wonderful! He wears the funniest little propeller hat and his dog, Sundrop? No, Sunkist! Oh she was just a darling! Yeah, you're right on time." She met Gordon's eyes as she picked up a manilla folder, and pulled out a paper. Gordon could only see the blank white side but he assumed there was something on the other as she _hmm_ ed and slid it back in. "Which one of you is Benrey,? You're up first."

Benrey stepped forward with a polite smile. "That, uh, that would be me, miss."

"Cool. I have been given important instructions on how we're doing this. Your friend told me that this is to be secret until the both of you are done. While we normally don't do this, he was so polite when asking that we agreed to it. Therefore you do not get to see the designs and I will be putting up a dividing sheet to block it from view."

Gordon and Benrey shared a look, before Benrey mumbled, "uh, okay," while Gordon laughed nervously. They followed the woman back to one of the furthest chairs, passing the girl again who once again caught Gordon's eye and smiled at him. Gordon flushed as Benrey laughed at him, giving the girl a thumbs up as Gordon sped up.

"Stop flirting in front of me, bro, it's not nice," Benrey mockingly whined, causing Gordon's face to turn a shade darker.

Gordon choked back some Sweet Voice, before he hissed out in a strangled voice, "I'm _not_! Shut up!"

Benrey continued to tease Gordon, who swatted at their shoulder, as they sat down in the chair, right arm extended as the tattoo artist instructed them to. A sheet hung up on a bar on wheels was brought around and blocked the view of their arm from the two of them. His arm was prepped, the design applied, and the woman disappeared to gather the needed colors.

"Here we go," Benrey grinned as the woman, whose name they learned was Jaq when her coworker yelled something at her and she yelled back, sat down and turned on the machine. A buzz started up, and as the needle entered their arm the first time, Benrey's smile dropped.

"Fuck!" they spat, trying not to flinch. "I forgot how much this shit fucking hurts."

Gordon put a hand on Benrey's shoulder to keep them in place as they forced themself not to squirm, and he couldn't help but laugh a little. "Dude, you literally died," he snorted, just loud enough for Benrey to hear. "And _this_ is what gives you problems? You have like, three other tattoos, I'd thought you'd be used to it."

"I was fuckin, uh, fuckin' smashed for two of them," Benrey admitted through clenched teeth. "Got them at fuckin, uh, parties, like a damn idiot."

"I know, I was there," Gordon smiled, patting Benrey's shoulder in a comforting motion. He changed hands so his left was on Benrey's shoulder and took their hand in his right. For maybe the first time since getting it, he was glad there was little-to-no feeling in that hand as Benrey took his hand in a bone-crushing grip. Feeling only a little bad, Gordon laughed again, simply grinning at the dirty look Benrey gave him. "You're a good cool, yeah? You're fine, I know it hurts but just think of the end result."

It was Benrey's turn to huff at him, in a reversal of their usual roles. "Yeah, I'm a good cool," they finally replied after a lengthy pause. Something must have occurred to them because they turned to Gordon with a glint in their eye and a huge grin. "Oh yoo you're totally gonna fuckin cry. Gordon Babyman, cries when he stubs his toe. This is gonna be hell for, for you. You can't legally make fun of me because you're a little, uh, you can't handle the smallest of pain. Plus, you don't have your passport, check and mate."

Gordon rolled his eyes and tightened his grip on Benrey's shoulder just the barest amount in a tiny threat. "Yeah keep talking big, buddy," is all he graced Benrey with as a reply, as Jaq rolled her chair back and nodded.

"Okay, Benrey? You're done. While normally we'd use plastic wrap, due to the special circumstances I have elected to use gauze instead so you can't peek. Okay," she met Gordon's eye and gestured for him to sit down in the chair he was standing by. "You're next."

"Um, y-yeah." Gordon sat as Jaq cleaned up her station by Benrey, before setting up next to Gordon, on his left. His left, because his right was a metal prosthetic. He heard her come back with the needed colors and his eyes flickered to Benrey's, heart hammering in his chest. It was all fine and dandy when he wasn't the one in the chair, he was very happy to tease Benrey but now that it's him, his nerves came back tenfold. "D-distract me?"

"Yeah, sure. Uh," Benrey tapped their chin as they tried to think of something to say, and end up blurting the first thing to come to their mind. "What, uh, what're we doin' for dinner? Benny needs their numnums, gotta know what's for din-din, y'know?"

Gordon gives a high, nervous laugh but then actually stops to think about it. What _were_ they going to do for dinner? He hadn't planned that far ahead, too worried about _this_ to even entertain the thought. What did they even have in the fridge? He thought, and then realized not much. So they'd have to go shopping. Which means making a metal checklist of what they needed to pick up. Oh, and if they were already out, there was a new game Benrey wanted to look at, so they could stop at Gamestop. 

And, he wondered if they should invite the others, for a big unveiling of the tattoos. Gordon knew Tommy would want to see the finished product, and while Coomer would be happy to come just to support them, Bubby would use it as a chance to tease them about it. Of course, there'd be the hidden happiness deep down, but he'd still tease. If they were going to invite everyone, should they just do Chinese? He knew everyone's orders by heart, and it was something they all liked, so there'd probably be no arguments about it. Then he wouldn't have to worry about cooking, and cleaning up afterwards.

He would even let Benrey pick out something for dessert, within reason. No matter how much Benrey argued the point, a box of Toaster Strudels was _not_ a proper dessert item.

Gordon hadn't even realized he zoned the fuck out until Benrey shook his shoulder slightly. With a blink he blurted, "wha?" intelligently, before he turned to his significant other.

Benrey howled with laughter, doubled over and clutching their stomach. "B-bro, Gordon, you, you've been staring at the wall for like, an _hour_!"

"Have I?" Gordon scratched at his chin, eyebrows furrowed together. "Huh."

"You've been finished for like, five minutes," Benrey choked, wiping their eyes of mirth-tears and standing straight. "Jaq said when you were ready to go see her. What, uh, what were you even _thinkin'_ about?"

Gordon grinned sheepishly, cheeks burning in embarrassment, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Dinner," he admitted, setting Benrey off again. He let out a couple chuckles of his own and slid from the chair. "I was thinking of inviting everyone over," he mentioned as he pulled out his phone. "What do you think?"

"Sounds cool, great. We gonna show these bad boys off?" Benrey brandished the gauze on their arm like a weapon and struck a pose, to which Gordon snorted at. He knocked his shoulder against theirs.

"Stop fuckin voguing, we're in _public_." Benrey just struck another pose and Gordon physically pulled them along and towards the front, eyes down at his phone as he sent a one-handed text.

**Gordon [3:46 PM]: Hey, you guys up for a get together tonight?** **  
****Gordon [3:46 PM]: Around 5:30 ish?**

**Tommy [3:46 PM]: :) i'd love to go!! is sunkist invited? :0c** **  
  
**

**Bubby [3:47 PM]: It better not be fucking lame.**

**Harold [3:47 PM]: WHat BUBby means to say is, WE'D LOve to come.**

**Darnold [3:47 PM]: That Sounds Good To Me.**

**Gordon [3:47 PM]: Of course Sunkist is invited, Tommy!** **  
****Gordon [3:47 PM]: And I hope it's pretty cool, at least I think it is.** **  
****Gordon [3:48 PM]: Chinese is good with all of you, right?**

He got a round of agreements, and pocketed his phone to finally turn to Jaq as she handed him some paperwork. "Here's the info on how to care for your tattoos. Please make sure to follow them, you don't want to shell out more money to fix it if it gets fucked up, or end up with an infection. In three hours take the gauze off, no sooner, alright? And if you're going swimming, or it may get dirty please cover it with something, there are instructions for that, as well, on the sheet."

Gordon nodded, accepting the papers and handing them to Benrey before fishing out his wallet and paying. He thanked Jaq, resolutely ignored the girl who was still being tattooed even as Benrey waved at her and she waved back with a knowing look, and walked out. He felt lighter, and the same excitement he had felt when first discussing it came back. "What do you think it is?" Gordon asked, a bounce in his step as they made their way back to the car.

"I dunno. Would it be fucked up if they were just, like, dicks?"

"God," Gordon honest to god _giggled_ , hands covering his face. "That would be fucked up. I don't think Tommy would do that but-"

"-But the chance is never zero," Benrey finished with a smirk. "Nah, It's not that, Tommy wouldn't do that to us. He loves us too much."

Gordon unlocked the car and climbed in, starting the car as Benrey did the same. He glanced at the clock and did some mental math, saying out loud, "we can take the gauze off at around, like, 6:30 or so. Everyone should be over sometime around 5:30, and it's almost 4 now. That gives us an hour-ish to pick up some stuff. You get to pick dessert."

"Fuck yeah!"

"...It has to be an actual dessert, though. No breakfast foods."

"Damn, I wanted Toaster Strudels."

"We can pick some up, _but_ they'll be for breakfast, okay?"

"Fuck yeah, again."

\--

They got home at five and ordered at around 5:20 so the food would get there not long after everyone else did. Tommy and Sunkist showed up exactly at 5:30, as had Dr. Coomer and Bubby, although Bubby refused to come inside for 5 minutes because, and Gordon quotes, he "had to be fashionably late."

Food had arrived by 5:50. They all sat at the dining room table, and ate, chatting all the while. Bubby and Benrey had gotten into some argument about… something. No one really knew, the topic changed every few minutes, but they left the two to their own devices as it didn't get too out of hand. That left Tommy, Dr. Coomer, Darnold, and Gordon to discuss their plans for the upcoming week, talk about what they've been doing, talk about TV shows.

Darnold mentioned still working on getting the Evil Flavor down, and he and Tommy talked about the test they were doing and what worked and what didn't. Dr. Coomer talked about his and Bubby's plans to go for a road trip, spouted off part of the Wikipedia article for the Grand Canyon, and then mentioned picking up souvenirs for everyone. Gordon was happy to listen to everyone else talk and input occasionally, thoughts drifting to the tattoo on his arm. He glanced at the time, relishing in the fact that it was almost time, and caught Benrey's eyes.

At Dr. Coomer's announcement of, "Gordon, I'm full!" and everyone else agreeing, he and Benrey cleared the table in double time, both wanting to see what the tattoos were. 

Finally, _finally_ , the time came. He and Benrey joined everyone else in the living room as they squabbled over what movie to put on. Gordon cleared his throat and the conversation died—not without one last "I'm right!" from Bubby—as everyone turned to him and Benrey. Motioning to the gauze on his arm, he grinned. "I know I told all of you our plans, but Benrey and I got matching tattoos, all thanks to Tommy!"

"That's wonderful, Gordon!" Dr. Coomer clapped excitedly, eyes shining. "Are you going to show us?"

"That's such a cliche," Bubby scoffed, but his eyes were laser-focused on the gauze, a smile on his lips.

"I-it was no problem!" Tommy looked bashful, yet proud of himself.

Darnold simply smiled at them.

"We haven't seen it yet because, uh, someone wanted to keep it a secret," Benrey shot a fond look at Tommy who just smiled broadly back, before Tommy leaned against Darnold. "We, uh, thought we'd have everyone see 'em for, for the first time together."

"Hurry up," Bubby yelled, and Gordon flipped him off with a laugh.

"On three?" Benrey nodded, already picking at the tape keeping the gauze in place. "One...." Everyone leaned forward, to get a better look. "Two…" both he and Benrey peeled the tape enough to get the gauze off without hurting too much. "Three." At the same time they peeled the gauze back, revealing the tattoos.

They both had a stem of flowers, six little blooms, a mirror of each other, small and blue with yellow centers. A single leaf was half-way down the stem, a soft green. At the bottom was a border of circles, the center two being the largest and growing smaller as they curved upwards. 

Benrey's circles faded from a lavender on the right to a periwinkle on the left. 

Gordon's went from a light blue to red to a darker blue.

Gordon's heart skipped a beat. He knew what they meant. Meeting Benrey's eyes, it was obvious they did too. Benrey's eyes shone with tears as their mouth split into a grin. "Oh, yo, Tommy, bro, I love it." Their voice was wet, but the pink to yellow Sweet Voice they let out showed they were _extremely_ happy.

Gordon stared at his.

Benrey extended their arm to show it off. Dr. Coomer _ooh_ ed and _aaah_ ed at it, while Bubby grunted his approval. Tommy said something about how he was glad it came out so well.

Gordon stared at his tattoo.

Darnold explained how Tommy had showed him the beginning designs but kept the final ones a secret, and how it looked really good.

Gordon stared.

His colors, sky blue to red to dark blue. _I don't hate you_ . Benrey's colors, lavender to periwinkle blue, _I'll never forget you_. The flowers, forget-me-nots. 

He brought up his right hand to cover his mouth as a sob left his chest. Everyone turned to him, confusion and worry evident on their faces. He quickly tried to wave their concern off, "I-I'm fine, sorry, _sorry_ , it's just-"

He turned his blurry eyes to Tommy, tears streaking down his face as a shaky grin spread across his lips. " _Tommy_ , this, i-its, it's _perfect_ ," he managed to get out through another sob. "H-how-"

Tommy was moving, climbing over the back of the couch to gather Gordon in a hug. "I-I remember you talking about it. You-you had mentioned Benrey using this specific Sweet Voice, and they had told me about you using _that_ one, and I know-I know how much it means to each of you. And the-the flowers just seemed fitting."

Gordon let out an ugly noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob, hands coming up to return the hug. "Thank you," he hiccuped, squeezing Tommy. "T-thank you. So much. Y-you don't know h-how much this means to me, man." He pulled away with another almost-laugh and wiped at his eyes, before beaming up at Tommy. " _Thank you_. I really mean it, I-I don't know how I can repay you."

"You being-being happy with it is all I need, Gordon!"

Gordon laughed, a true laugh, and wiped his eyes again before turning to the others with a giant grin. "Sorry about that, I got, um, a little emotional there."

"Hello, Gordon! I hope you're feeling better!"

"Yeah, yeah I am, Dr. Coomer."

"Now Gordon, I told you to call me Harold."

"Gordon, he told you to call him Harold," Bubby parroted in a smug tone of voice, but concern still shone behind his eyes.

"And I told you I can't do that, Dr. Coomer. It's too weird."

Benrey slid up next to Gordon and took his hand in their own. "You, uh, you good?" They murmured, pressed into his side. Gordon turned and met their eyes, and his smile softened.

He pressed their foreheads together. "Yeah, I am," he answered just as softly as his smile. He brought a hand up to cradle their face and closed the distance between them to capture their lips in a kiss. Benrey's hands went up to tangle in his hair as they kissed, slow and languidly.

Until Bubby shouted, "get a fucking room! Gross!"

Gordon pulled away enough to glare at the older man. "You can get the fuck out of my house," he suggested, no real venom in his voice despite his sour look.

"Fine, I will!" Bubby stood and went to head for the door but Dr. Coomer caught his hand.

"Bubby, dearest, isn't young love beautiful? You can't leave yet, we haven't had dessert!"

"Y-Yeah, Bubby, it's rude-rude to leave before dessert!" Tommy agreed from where he was sprawled on Darnold's lap.

"You don't want to be _rude_ , do you, Dr. Bubby?" Darnold even added in a smug voice.

"Ugh! Fine," Bubby snapped before he stomped back to the couch and flopped down onto it.

"Thank you, Bubby-Hubby," Dr. Coomer sing-songed as he took his place back at Bubby's side. Bubby just grumbled, but had a small smile struggling to break through his frown.

Gordon met Benrey's eye again and gave him another kiss while everyone was too distracted on chiding Bubby. "C'mon, lets get dessert ready."

"Dessert! Bbbbbb~" Benrey yelled in his excited-yet-monotone voice, rushing off to the kitchen.

Gordon followed at a slower pace, eyes turning back to the tattoo on his forearm. It really was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Sweet Voice translations:
> 
> Yellow means Amused  
> Pink means Embarrassed  
> Steel Blue that comes in a hurry means He's worried.  
> Majorelle Blue to Smoke Gray means You're Okay  
> Pink to Yellow means I'm a happy fellow.  
> Lavender to Periwinkle Blue means I'll never forget you  
> Sky Blue to Red to Dark Blue means I don't hate you


End file.
